Early in 2003, the CGIAR launched a call for proposals for major global research programs (known as Challenge Programs) in which Urban Harvest participated. Although our response to this call has not yet been approved for development, the process of developing a proposal in interaction with many partners led to a strengthened consortium of partners involved with Urban Harvest. This informal consortium currently consists of 10 international agricultural research centers, 2 UN agencies, 3 advanced research institutes, 9 national research institutes and municipal authorities in Asia, Africa and Latin America, 2 international NGO’s, and national NGO’s as well as donor organizations.

The interactive process also led to a revised Urban Harvest research framework as it was felt that the matrix framework which was developed through stakeholder discussions in 2000 over-emphasized production and processing technology development at the expense of the livelihoods context in which technologies are used and the policy arena which conditions livelihoods opportunities. It was also felt to be too much ambiguity in the different levels of research implementation (household, institutional, and policy levels). The new framework embeds technological innovation within the household livelihoods context, relating it to human knowledge and capacity and the availability of natural and physical capital (or assets). Particular attention is given to the hidden resources available for use in urban contexts, such as underutilized land, water surfaces and organic wastes. The location of household livelihoods within a higher order ecosystems context is underlined, particularly in relation to the health status of individuals, households and the ecosystem itself. The importance of the interests and policies of a diverse range of stakeholders influencing both household livelihoods and the ecosystem is emphasized, together with the need for a stakeholder and policy dialogue as part of the framework. The revised research framework thus aims to capture the complex, multisectoral reality of the urban environment based on the following four "pillars":  

stakeholder and policy dialogue, to anchor the research process in the local institutional and policy context

sustainable urban livelihoods, to enhance the contribution of agriculture to increased household food security and well-being

urban ecosystems health, to scientifically assess negative and positive impacts of urban and peri-urban agriculture on human and ecosystem health and seek ways to mitigate the negative and enhance the positive effects

The four modules described above provide a conceptual and basis for addressing the specific objectives and structuring the program in terms of expected outputs and a set of hypotheses to guide research.

The above modules or research themes get their practical dimension through projects operating in multiple locations in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America; and are composed of research and development teams involving local, national and international researchers. Several candidate projects have been identified for implementing within the above four modules.